抄録
The depression of peripheral vessels due to aging can causes serious diseases as well as the destruction of small organs and gangrene. Our research activity is now directed at dynamic observation of peripheral vessels using optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the purpose of developing a new technique for screening or the diagnosis of aging vessels. In this paper, the description is focused on OCT imaging of arterioles of the human finger. Clear imaging of arterioles at a depth of 1 mm or more is attained with an image resolution of around 15 μm using the light-focusing effect of an objective. So-called dynamic OCT was developed using the all-optical-fiber interferometer optics to obtain the OCT images of an arteriole at the frame interval of 5 sec. Expansion and contraction of the cross-section of the arteriole are observed clearly in the time-sequential OCT images. Such elastic motion of the arteriole is almost independent of heartbeat. It is concluded on the basis of our experimental results that an arteriole remarkably expands and contracts in response to physiological functions of the arteriole as controlled by sympathetic nerves.
